By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
The Crestline Highlanders Vintage Base Ball team, who recently marched in Crestline’s Jamboree Days parade, pulling their trophies on a cart, is scheduled to play the Riverside Smudgepots at the Harich Field in Twin Peaks this Saturday. The first pitch is at 10 a.m.
The Highlanders are sponsored by the Crestline Chamber of Commerce and Rim Rec. They are currently the back-to-back (2022 and 2023) Southern California Vintage Base Ball League champions.
This new 2024 season has just recently begun, with two games already played. As the heat is increasing in the valley, the games played in the cooler mountains are more appreciated by the players. Last week’s scheduled game was forfeited when the Perris team could not field a team.
A new trophy is now on display at the Crestline Chamber of Commerce office. It is the Founders Cup trophy, donated by Wes “Commish” Abarca, who founded the Southern California Vintage Base Ball League. When he lived in Northern California, he played in their league so, when he moved to Southern California, he was inspired to start the Southern California Vintage Base Ball League, to which the Highlanders belong. Not only did the Highlanders win back-to-back championships, they had two perfect seasons with no losses in 2022 and 2023.
This Founders Cup will be presented to the team with the best season record. With the way the playoffs are conducted in Vintage Base Ball, sometimes the team with the best record can get eliminated during the playoffs and not get to play for the championship.
Abarca is also known for the numerous murals he has painted across the mountain, from Hoffman and VOE Elementary Schools to Mountain and Rim High Schools and most of the murals in Crestline, including the newest one on the TM Camping building, next to the Shell gas station, that was recently completed.
Playing by traditional 1886 rules is slightly different from current day baseball. First, they play under nicknames they have earned from their actions during the season. They must play by the old rules, which include no cussing, respect for the top-hat-wearing “Sir” (umpire), wearing old style uniforms and using 1886 replica equipment, including using gloves not mitts, a heavy wooden bat, and using the same hand-sewn ball all game long (until it gets lost in the forest). Traditionally the Sirs were well-respected judges in the community so their opinions were honored and never questioned.
The game is played with a fast, overhand-style pitching and when the hurler (pitcher) gets tired, another player from the field may switch places with him. The striker (batter) is allowed seven balls before he is walked, although “three strikes and you are out” is still the standard. They play for seven innings.
The striker gets to request the type of ball he wants thrown, such as a high or low ball within the strike zone. There is no “pitcher’s mound,” just a box drawn in the dirt where the hurler should stand; the Sir stands beside him so he can see the whole field and how the ball goes over home plate. Some of those old-time rules include that foul balls aren’t strikes and getting hit by a pitch counts only as a ball.
Under the 1886 rules, it is a respectful game, played politely and vigorously with arguing with the Sir prohibited. The fans are referred to as cranks and the players are ballers. The game is played seriously but politely.
Unfortunately, the game scheduled for Saturday July 13 was forfeited by
Since the Perris Prospectors knew in advance they could not get enough players to attend the July 13 game, the game was canceled, giving the Highlanders a win. Because of that, there will be a make-up game played as a double header on Aug. 10 between the Crestline Highlanders and the Lordsburg Trolleymen Vintage Base Ball Club at Harich Field at 675 Grandview Road in Twin Peaks.
This player unavailability situation has plagued the Highlanders this season as well, and they have not been able to field a complete team comprised of all of their best players resulting in disappointing scores in their past two games.
The Highlanders were honored guests at Mountains Community Hospital’s Le Grand Picnic on July 21, as they are the local representatives of their baseball-themed picnic “Field of Dreams.” The community got to meet the team members and talk about old-time base ball. The picnic supports Mountains Hospital and their growing needs.
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